The outdoor pool area has gone through an AMAZING transformation!…read more I first want to say that unfortunately I don't have many pictures. I didn't want to seem rude and make people self conscious by taking pictures with them in it, specially when in bathing suits and lots of young children. With that said, this outdoor pool is beautiful! The parking space is ample. So many places to park. The surrounding area is covered by trees and other outdoor activities including a baseball diamond/field and a very nice skate park. Upon entering, there is a small fee to get in daily. I believe residents receive discount to and there are passes available. As soon as we entered the swimming area, I was really impressed! Plenty of spaces to sit. In the shade, sun, a bit further away, many options. There is a shallow pool with lots of fun activities and slides for the young kids. That pool is 1FT deep and it's perfect for families. There's another pool with a basketball game another cool slide and zip tie pool plunge. On the far right there's an area with the long, tall slides ! These are new and look so fun. A bit further behind is a lap pool with diving boards. Unfortunately we came on a day with poor air quality and they had to close early. But we did enjoy 2 hours worth of swimming. There is an additional indoor pool and we were encouraged to swim there. We decided to go home. There's a confession stand that we didn't get to try and I haven't seen the fitness center yet. I honestly can't wait to come back, best pool in the area. Not too packed, big, fun, plenty to do. Loved !

This pool looks fabulous but we came on a weekday, half an hour after opening and I'm not sure how…read moreit wasn't considered at capacity. There was a camp with hundreds and hundreds of children running around. They didn't all listen to the lifeguards. There were no chairs available -- that's on us, we should have come at opening, but it was wildly overcrowded and then another camp with even younger children arrived. My kids are young teen/tween age and excellent swimmers but it's more crowded than a Great Wolf Lodge on a holiday with a lot less supervision. I felt awful for the lifeguards. We'll likely come back on a weekend because the facilities are great but the amount of children vs adults/older teens is honestly hard to imagine and felt very stressful.

I came in with very basic swimming skills. I had comfort with water, but could not effectively…read morefreestyle at all. I worked with Victoria, and she took me from very basic to proficient in freestyle (forward crawl). I can now breath while doing freestyle, which I think is the hardest thing to learn, streamline, and an entire lap up and down. I am starting to feel like a real swimmer! Victoria has pushed me to do more and I plan to continue to practice during the colder months to make improvements. I hope to progress from LTS to the next level. Adults can learn to swim too. I've still got more to learn, and I plan to come next year. Customer service was also pretty good too.

Amazing swim school. I've swam off and on for years, just freestyle, with long gaps in between. I…read moredecided to take it more seriously a few years ago. I can swim all 4 competitive strokes now (butterfly is still challenging and needs work) and working on flip turns which I can land but haven't perfected just yet. I've had wonderful instructors and the administrators have been excellent with rescheduling. Give them a try. You won't regret it. Very fair prices and probably the best in the city and I've been to other swim schools in the area.

Anna and Tony are phenomenal swimming instructors. Our boys have made so much progress thanks to A1…read moreand their gentle yet effective coaching. THANK YOU!!!

Amazing private classes with caring, consistent teachers. We have tried a few places that just…read moredidn't bother to get to know our swimmer, but this place is just wonderful. Anna and Tony are kind, have a great curriculum, and really get their students acclimated to the water. Swimmers come out feeling comfortable and cared for. We have seen little kids up to adults taking classes here and we highly recommend.

Ariana was soooo sweet with our 18 month old, Evelyn! We absolutely loved all of our lessons. In…read morejust six short sessions, our girl went from barely hanging onto a wall and being afraid to leave the pool steps to monkey climbing back and forth for so long, jumping in from the sides and finding the wall from the water, gained more confidence on her back, started blowing bubbles, kicking her legs, etc, and she has LOVED being in the water ever since discovering that confidence with Ariana!! It really helped me and my anxiety knowing that Ariana is becoming a neonatal RN soon and I felt so good experimenting and taking risks while she was there to step in if needed. She was so patient each lesson waiting for my daughter to get comfortable in the water and with her being there, bought special pool toys and learned which ones my daughter took to the quickest and used those to get her comfortable within minutes of beginning each lesson. She left each lesson giving me tips and what to work on in between lessons and I loved being given that direction! she also was always on time, communicative and understanding and flexible of cancellations due to weather. I hope she is still teaching next summer so I can have her out for my daughter again and my baby boy that's due in a couple weeks, and wish we could continue this summer with more but I won't be able to swim for a bit after having this one. We totally would have extended otherwise. 10/10 instructor and experience Thoroughly loved the private experience of having her come out to my in-laws pool to teach too!

Coach Wallis was fun and encouraging and did not get thrown off track with little ones who did not…read morealways calmly follow along. All the kids were excited to see her and excited for class each day. They all made big strides in their comfort level in the water and swimming skills.

Great experience so far! They let us know the first day that our son was a better fit for the level…read moretwo class. They let us stay for a level two class that day free of charge. Nice to have an option for swim lessons since we didn't have the pool this summer. Great work guys, keep it up! PS - It's a great opportunity for a short and sweet date. Drop the kid off and head down to the Swiss Bakery for a yummy bite to eat and 20 minutes of relaxation.

We signed up for private swim classes for my 3-year-old at KIDS FIRST Swim School in Springfield…read more Before starting, we clearly explained that our son is not used to new adults and that we wanted the same instructor consistently so he could feel comfortable and build trust. Unfortunately, almost every week there was a cancellation or instructor change. Out of 6 classes, my son had about 5 different instructors. For a young child who needs consistency, this was very stressful. Each class felt like starting over because he had to adjust to a new adult again, so there was little to no improvement. After about 3 weeks, I complained to the head instructor. Instead of listening or helping, he seemed frustrated and raised his voice back at me, basically saying he already knew. That was very disappointing. My biggest concern is that they require families to schedule private lessons far in advance, but they could not provide a consistent instructor for the set day and time. We chose private lessons specifically for consistency, and they did not deliver that. For families with very young children, especially children who need time to get comfortable with new people, I would not recommend this location for private lessons. It ended up being a huge waste of time and money for us.

This is a nice place for kids to learn to swim. We have two little ones as students there. There…read moreare so many things I like about it: 1. The student body and the staff showcase the diversity of Silver Spring; 2. Everybody is there for their kids to learn, so there is very little judgment of kids or of parents' 3. Changing facilities are better than adequate; 4. The teachers are all so very nice and enthusiastic; 5. The don't mark the heck up out of the things they sell, such as goggles and swim diapers; 6. It's very well organized and front desk staff is responsive; 7. The water is very warm. 8. LOTS of staff around the pool. It's clear they take safety very seriously. If I had one constructive criticism is I wish the big kid classes were just a little longer. I'm sure their scheduling is very challenging, but I think the slightly older kids would benefit from having more time in the pool to practice their skill (they split their time with their classmates and 30 minutes go by quickly!).

Great teachers and great staff! My kids have truly learned to swim and are confident in the water!…read moreThey love it here! Clean facilities and kind and attentive staff.

Positives: 1) clean facility…read more2) I found the staff friendly 3) makeups easy to use 4) app is friendly 5) it focuses on fundamentals consistently Negs: 1) price - and the main reason I have cancelled. $145 a month vs county classes at $65 for six weeks of classes. You can buy six month packages and save a little but it's not worth it for my to give that much money up front for such a long period at this age. 2) 4 kids to a class and they sit on fish kick boards while they wait their turn so it's about 9 minutes per child in the pool 3) time in pool l: while I write #5 above it's not enough time for my 4.5 year old in the pool 4) requirements for changing classes: GF changed POLICY mid stream so previously when you had to master something once now you have to master it three times and one skill can hold your kid back in a class where they are clearly ready for more Swimming in other classes like junior 3 or glider (when kids get to really start stretching out) 5) while your kid has one skill left, they repeat all the required skills of the level they are in at each appointment I Encourage parents to use makeups to specifically test skills for movement.

I had a terrible experience with this swim school. Even though I paid for an annual membership,…read morethey canceled my son's lessons because they said he wasn't progressing as expected and recommended private one-on-one lessons. I agreed, but then they told me they didn't even have one-on-one lessons available and that we would have to wait. Instead of working with us or offering a solution, they pulled me aside in a corner and informed me that my son's classes would be canceled starting the following week. The way they handled the situation was disrespectful, unprofessional, and lacked any compassion. As a parent, I expected support and understanding, not to have my child removed from the program because he needed extra help. I would not recommend this swim school to any family. Parents should be aware that if your child needs additional support, the school may choose to cancel their lessons instead of providing reasonable accommodations or alternatives.

Overall: 20/10 The highest review I've ever given a…read morebusiness. Dominic Latella works miracles for swimmers! I took his "treading water" clinic and in 10 minutes, I was treading water effortlessly; something I've struggled doing for years and even after taking numerous lessons with private instructors (not affiliated with SwimBox). He's taught for 22+ years! and it shows. He simply knows how to coach all the minute details in swimming mechanics. I've always 'm someone with a high muscle to fat ratio and have ALWAYS sank like a rock. He taught me 3 styles to use my hands to tread and 4 styles using my feet. He demonstrated things in the water (such as corkscrews) that I've never seen/heard of before. He's very friendly and personable as well. I've taken the swim analysis and it was super helpful/beneficial. Looking forward to signing up for more classes! Highly recommend!

Another attempt at learning to tread water. Another rip off. My single goal was to learn to be able…read moreto jump into deep water and to swim back with my head above water. Basically, vacation-style swimming where you jump off a boat, tread for a bit, and swim back to the boat. I asked if I could learn this at SwimBox. I was told I could. If they don't teach this, they should have said so. Instead, I took 10 classes and was never taught either of these things. The instructor, as usual, wasted time in the beginning treating me like I'm afraid of water. I can already swim underwater and on my back (not expertly, of course). Instructors should start off with new swimmers by allowing them to show what they can already do vs. starting them with blowing bubbles and floating. At SwimBox, they have no incentive to move you along quickly since dragging out the lessons equals more classes, which equals more money for them. I gave the instructor the benefit of the doubt that she was teaching me some basic things I needed to know. However, as the classes went along, I noticed we were headed towards what I feared -- teaching me freestyle swimming and perfecting my form. This IS NOT what I asked to learn! I don't plan to swim laps or join the Olympics. When I clarified again that I wanted to learn to swim with my head above water, she dismissed that type of swimming as not real swimming. Well, that's how people swim socially and that's what I asked, upfront, to learn. Finally, I was lied to when I was told we would work on treading water, which is the MAIN THING that I wanted to learn. The pools are, obviously, not deep, but I was duped into believing I would still be taught. Each time I take swim lessons, they teach what they want to teach. I will just have to get a friend to teach me because formal instructors are apparently hard wired to teach every new swimmer freestyle. I wasted my money.

My baby Girl is making such progress here I love the friendship heights location!! we take the…read moreparent tot group lesson but her instructor is pretty hands on with each student. Im looking fwd to watching her growth!!

Our three-year-old son is learning to swim so well with the care and love provided by these folks!read more

For my sister in law's big birthday, I bought her glass classes with Jill. It was the prefect gift…read more She ended up with 2 neat pieces. Jill is a remarkable teacher. No question is stupid. She readily shares her knowledge, expertise and secrets and her studio is equipped with everything needed for a simple piece or a more advanced complicated piece. Treat yourself orsomeone you care about to glass making classes with Jill. Cookie Kerxton

I took my sister to Jill's for a surprise birthday afternoon. She is an artist too so I knew this…read morewould be perfect...it was! Jill is so patient and really explains everything so easily. I have no artistic bone in my body but i LOVED this experience! My glass hanging is so personal and special. My sister's also reflected her personality...she loved the birthday present of this class as she now has a very special piece that she made with her own hands.